Web Design Process

CMPT 281

Outline

• How do we know good sites from bad sites?• Web design process• Class design exercise

Good sites and bad sites

Good sites and bad sites

Good sites and bad sites

Good sites and bad sites

Good sites and bad sites

Good sites and bad sites

Web Design Process Overview• Discovery

– assess needs• Exploration

– create multiple designs• Refinement

– detail chosen design• Production

– prepare for handoff• Implementation

– build site• Launch!• Maintenance

– measure & improve

Design Exercise

Design Exercise

• Design the perfect website for CMPT 281– You are the users (and the designers)– What do students want to do at a course site?– What are the prof’s goals for the site?– What are the main tasks?– How will you organize the site and the pages?– Sketch it out!– We will discuss your designs at the end of class

Design ProcessExploration

Goals of Exploration Phase

• Generate multiple designs– visualize solutions to discovered issues– information & navigation design– early graphic design

• Select one design for further development– use patterns, usability testing, & client feedback to

evaluate

Patterns in Exploration Phase

Tend to be more abstract

Site genres

Navigational framework

Home page

Content management

Trust and credibility

Basic ecommerce

Advanced ecommerce

Completing tasks

Page layouts

Search

Page-level navigation

Speed

Important concepts

• Design• Representation• Usability• User capabilities• Task analysis• Rapid prototyping• User evaluation• (these will all be covered in more detail later!)

Design

• Design is driven by requirements– what the artifact is for– not how it is to be implemented– e.g., phone not as important as “mobile” app.

• A design represents the artifact– for websites these representations include:• screen sketches or storyboards• flow diagrams/outline showing task structure• executable prototypes

– representations simplify

Web Design Representations

Site Maps

Web Design Representations

Templates

Web Design Representations

Storyboards

Web Design Representations

Mock-ups

Usability

According to the ISO:The effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction with which specified users achieve specified goals in particular environments

• This does not mean you have to create a boring design or something that is only good for novices – it all depends on your goals

Usability/User Experience Goals

– Learnable• e.g., faster each time

through– Memorable• from session to session

– Flexible• multiple ways to do tasks

– Efficient• perform tasks quickly

– Robust• minimal error rates• good feedback so user can

recover– Discoverable• learn new features over

time– Pleasing• high user satisfaction

– Fun

• Set goals early & later use to measure progress• Goals often have tradeoffs, so prioritize• Example goals

User-centred Design“Know thy User”

• Cognitive abilities– perception– physical manipulation– memory

• Organizational / job abilities • Keep users involved throughout– developers working with target customers– think of the world in users terms– not technology-centered/feature driven

• …so, how do you get to know the user?

Task Analysis & Contextual Inquiry

• Observe existing work practices• Create examples & scenarios of actual use• Try out new ideas before building software

Rapid Prototyping• Build a mock-up of design

so you can test• Low fidelity techniques

– paper sketches– cut, copy, paste

• Interactive prototyping tools– HTML, PowerPoint, Flash,

etc.

Fantasy Basketball

ESP

Evaluation• Test with real customers

(participants)– w/ interactive prototype– low-fi with paper “computer”

• Low-cost techniques– expert evaluation– remote, online testing

Design Exercise

Design Exercise

• Design the perfect website for CMPT 281– You are the users (and the designers)– What do students want to do at a course site?– What are the prof’s goals for the site?– What are the main tasks?– How will you organize the site and the pages?

Next…